Follow Us On

Dozens Of Children Die After Elementary School Collapses In Mexico Earthquake

Young children trapped by elementary school collapse in Mexico

Yesterday, Mexico was rocked by a 7.1 magnitude earthquake. The epicenter of the quake was near Atencingo in Puebla state, about 75 miles from Mexico City.

Footage of the damage is harrowing. At least 200 people have been found dead, and many, many more are missing. And now, there is an absolutely gut-wrenching story of an elementary school collapse that has killed at least 25 – with dozens more missing. All but four of the bodies pulled from the rubble of the collapsed Enrique Rebsamen school in the south of the capital were children, reports NBC News. There are conflicting reports — some put the death toll from the school alone as high as 37 — 32 of which are children.

Part of Colegio Enrique Rebsamen, an elementary school in Mexico City, collapsed following the powerful earthquake pic.twitter.com/KVdUKSrwNe

Rescuers are working feverishly to get to anyone still trapped under the rubble of the school. Here, heart-wrenching video shows the moment two small children were found alive in the rubble and rescued:

“Eleven people were rescued alive from the partially collapsed school but 30 others were still missing as of 2 a.m. ET,” reports NBC. “The crowd of anxious parents outside the gates shared reports that two families had received WhatsApp messages from girls trapped inside, but the Associated Press said that could not be confirmed.”

The images are indescribably difficult to look at. But parents are living this nightmare right now — and the people of Mexico will certainly need our help after this devastation.

The earthquake came on the 32nd anniversary of the devastating Mexico quake of 1985 that killed 5,000 people. NBC reports many schools were holding evacuation drills to commemorate the 1985 quake, just hours before the earthquake hit yesterday.

“A drill at 11 a.m. and an earthquake at 1 p.m.,” 23-year-old student Valerie Perez, who ran from her apartment in Mexico City, told NBC. “This is the most powerful thing I have ever seen in my life.”

No words for how heartbreaking and devastating this is. If you’d like to help with the relief effort, you can donate to these organizations: